This book presents a historical overview of how Christians have described the causes of natural evils in the world. While earlier Christians emphasize the role of personal sin, institutional sin, and spiritual powers as direct causes of natural evil, the thinking within the historical Christian community displays a marked shift over time. The increasing nuance around the question of the source of natural evils through late antiquity, the Scholastic turn toward rational explanation of doctrinal conviction, and finally, the turn inward at the Enlightenment leads Christians increasingly to attribute the source of natural evil toward God and further from the created realm than it had ever been before. This move occurs as pastors and theologians seek to make sense of God''s sovereignty and providence relative to evil occurrences in the world, though the approach includes some potentially unintended consequences that alleviate human responsibility for evil and undermine God''s fundamental goodness and transcendence, drawing him into the created realm as one more potential cause.

Autorentext

John Adair

Inhalt

Introduction: The Mystery of Pain Present and Past
Chapter 1: 'They Make You Ill': Demonic Influence in Storms and Sickness
Chapter 2: Floods, Famines, and Fires: Origen on Natural Evil
Chapter 3: Augustine's Commonwealth Within Creation
Chapter 4: Thomas Aquinas and the Question of Natural Evil
Chapter 5: John's Calvin's Determination on Natural Evil
Chapter 6: The Enlightenment and the Disenchantment of the World
Chapter 7: Assessing the Historical Narrative